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Ohio Wesleyan 77, Allegheny 67 (12/1/2001)

Ohio Wesleyan gradually pulled away and then held off an Allegheny rally to top the Gators in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Gators jumped to an early 9-6 lead on a 3-pointer by Nick Catanzarite and a lay-in by Eric Johnson, but Ohio Wesleyan evened the game on a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Shawn Kindred (Delaware/Hayes) and a jumper from freshman forward Seth Rhea (Delaware/Hayes). Junior guard Jason Dopoulos (Strongsville) followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Ohio Wesleyan a 17-9 lead with 11:05 left in the first half.

The Bishops threatened to put the game out of reach in the second half, going on a run of 18-8. Sophomore center Travis Schwab (Medina) had 8 points in that span and freshman forward Brandon Cole (Sidney) contributed 4. The final point, a free throw by Schwab with 4:13 to play, left Ohio Wesleyan leading by a score of 65-47.

Allegheny turned up the defensive pressure and got back-to-back 3-pointers by Matt Magnusen and a fast break lay-in by Catanzarite to cut the deficit to 65-55 with 3:27 remaining.

But Kindred drained a pair of free throws and Rhea followed with a basket to cool the Gator surge, and Allegheny did not score more than 3 consecutive points during the remainder of the contest.

Schwab shared the team lead with 19 points and shared the team lead with 14 rebounds, while Dopoulos also scored 19 points. Kindred followed with 16 points and shared the team lead with 5 assists and Cole shared team leads with 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore center Charlie Smith (Centerburg) contributed 10 rebounds.

Catanzarite led Allegheny with 21 points.